[House Hearing, 106 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
HAITI: PROSPECTS FOR FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SIXTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
APRIL 5, 2000
__________
Serial No. 106-133
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on International Relations
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.house.gov/
international_relations
______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
66-166 CC WASHINGTON : 2000
COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
BENJAMIN A. GILMAN, New York, Chairman
WILLIAM F. GOODLING, Pennsylvania SAM GEJDENSON, Connecticut
JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa TOM LANTOS, California
HENRY J. HYDE, Illinois HOWARD L. BERMAN, California
DOUG BEREUTER, Nebraska GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American
DAN BURTON, Indiana Samoa
ELTON GALLEGLY, California MATTHEW G. MARTINEZ, California
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey
CASS BALLENGER, North Carolina ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey
DANA ROHRABACHER, California SHERROD BROWN, Ohio
DONALD A. MANZULLO, Illinois CYNTHIA A. McKINNEY, Georgia
EDWARD R. ROYCE, California ALCEE L. HASTINGS, Florida
PETER T. KING, New York PAT DANNER, Missouri
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio EARL F. HILLIARD, Alabama
MARSHALL ``MARK'' SANFORD, South BRAD SHERMAN, California
Carolina ROBERT WEXLER, Florida
MATT SALMON, Arizona STEVEN R. ROTHMAN, New Jersey
AMO HOUGHTON, New York JIM DAVIS, Florida
TOM CAMPBELL, California EARL POMEROY, North Dakota
JOHN M. McHUGH, New York WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT, Massachusetts
KEVIN BRADY, Texas GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
RICHARD BURR, North Carolina BARBARA LEE, California
PAUL E. GILLMOR, Ohio JOSEPH CROWLEY, New York
GEORGE RADANOVICH, California JOSEPH M. HOEFFEL, Pennsylvania
JOHN COOKSEY, Louisiana
THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado
Richard J. Garon, Chief of Staff
Kathleen Bertelsen Moazed, Democratic Chief of Staff
Caleb C. McCarry, Professional Staff Member
Marilyn C. Owen, Staff Associate
C O N T E N T S
----------
WITNESSES
Page
The Honorable Peter F. Romero, Acting Secretary for Western
Hemisphere Affairs, U.S. Department of State................... 5
APPENDIX
Prepared Member's Statements:
The Honorable Benjamin A. Gilman, a Representative in Congress
from New York and Chairman, Committee on International
Relations...................................................... 28
Prepared Witness Statements:
The Honorable Peter F. Romero, U.S. Department of State.......... 30
Additional materials submitted for the record:
Questions submitted by Chairman Benjamin Gilman, together with
answer of Assistant Secretary Romero, concerning reactivating
Guantanamo Bay for handling refugees (Exhibit A)............... 34
Question submitted by The Honorable Brad Sherman, a
Representative from California, together with answer of
Assistant Secretary Romero, concerning comparison of money the
United States has spent on Haiti for economic aid and military
security or physical security, compared to money spent by other
nations on Haiti, especially as compared to money spent in the
former Yugoslavia (Exhibit B).................................. 35
HAITI: PROSPECTS FOR FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS
----------
Wednesday, April 5, 2000
House of Representatives,
Committee on International Relations,
Washington, D.C.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m., in room
2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Benjamin A. Gilman
(Chairman of the Committee) presiding.
Present: Representatives Gilman, Brady, Ballenger,
Gejdenson, Payne, Hastings, Sherman, Meeks, Lee, and Delahunt
Also present: Representatives Conyers and Goss
Chairman Gilman. The Committee will come to order. This
morning our Committee will examine the prospects for free and
fair elections in Haiti. Our witness is the Honorable Peter
Romero, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Western
Hemisphere Affairs.
This is the first time that our Committee is meeting in our
refurbished hearing room. The new equipment you see includes
advanced audio and video technology to take us into the 21st
century. As a result, among other improvements, our audio feeds
will be available in other Committee facilities. I am pleased
that we will also be able to take testimony from witnesses in
another city or on another continent.
Last week, the House lost a good friend, Colonel Jack
Brady, who worked for the House Foreign Affairs Committee for
26 years, including 17 years as our Chief of Staff. Jack passed
away last week.
From 1976 to 1993, he was the personification of our
Committee. Jack Brady was a man who took great pride in serving
his nation, which he did with distinction in a number of
arenas. I am asking my colleagues to join with me now in
recognizing Colonel Brady's extraordinary service to this
Committee and to the House with a moment of silence.
Chairman Gilman. Thank you.
I have supported U.S. engagement in Haiti during my career
in the House of Representatives. There is a substantial
community of hard-working Haitian-Americans in my district. I
will continue to support U.S. assistance for the people of
Haiti.
Yesterday, my colleagues, Mr. Goss, Mr. Rangel, and Mr.
Conyers, who I am pleased is here with us this morning, and Mr.
Delahunt, joined me in issuing the following statement:
``As long-time supporters of Haiti and its people, we are
outraged by the recent political assassinations in that
country. Yesterday, the Director of Radio Haiti-Inter, Jean
Leopold Dominique and Jean-Claude Louissaint, the radio's
janitor, were murdered. On March 28th in Petit-Goave, a local
leader of the Patriotic Movement for National Salvation, MPSN,
Mr. Legitime Athis, and his wife were murdered in their home.
``Over the last month, the political situation in Haiti has
deteriorated sharply, threatening to derail considerable
progress made by the Provisional Electoral Council toward
holding free and fair elections, and re-establishing a
functioning legislature and local councils. In addition to
political assassinations, orchestrated violent street riots
have erupted. We strongly urge Haitian President Rene Preval to
restore public order and unequivocally signal that these
attacks on the electoral process will not be tolerated by
immediately launching credible, thorough investigations of
these crimes.
``The Organization of American States has urged the Haitian
government and the Provisional Electoral Council to agree to
`an election date that will allow the National Assembly to
convene on the second Monday in June'.
``The Provisional Electoral Council is making the necessary
arrangements to meet this deadline. Time is of the essence.
President Preval must act now to work with the Provisional
Electoral Council to set a firm date for the election as the
OAS has urged.
``The Haitian people have come too far to see their hopes
and dreams for a peaceful, prosperous, and democratic country
destroyed. While we understand the difficulty of organizing
elections, failure to hold them this month will seriously
jeopardize the hard-won support for Haiti presently held by the
American people and the international community.
``The moment is fast approaching when the inter-American
community must invoke the 1990 'Santiago Commitment to
Democracy and the Renewal of the Inter-American System',
Resolution 1080, which provides for an emergency meeting of the
OAS foreign ministers to decide upon specific collective action
when democracy is threatened. We pray that the Haitian
government will take the immediate steps needed to avoid this
outcome, which would signify an end to the support of the
United States and the international community so crucial for
Haiti's future.''
There are few moments in history where Haiti has stood so
starkly at a crossroad. The signs are as clear as they are
disturbing. Haiti's leaders and people must not misunderstand
the seriousness of our resolve and our purpose.
We must act now to protect American interests in Haiti.
[The statement of Chairman Gilman appears in the appendix.]
Chairman Gilman. Before recognizing our Ranking Democratic
Member, I am going to call on our Chief of Staff for a moment
to just review for you a little bit about our new equipment.
Dr. Garon.
Mr. Garon. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just very briefly, the
Members will notice first off that we have new microphones.
These are state-of-the-art, trying to bring the sound a lot
more clearer to them. They have their own individual speakers.
The red obviously is on and when you're done speaking, you
would just hit the button to turn off the mic.
We have two screens on the side, 50-inch screens that will
be able to pick up various pictures controlled from the console
in the back. There are two cameras in the back and one right
behind the Chairman. There is a temporary screen behind us. We
will have a new one installed this weekend that will drop down,
as a monitor, and this screen will also be able to be tucked up
into the ceiling. The white squares right next to the screens
on each side are the sound speakers, and you may also see in
the corners the black rectangles. Those are the infrared
emitters that will be able to pick up transmission and can
convey translation, little devices that we have for the
Members, when we have meetings in here that require
translations.
As the Chairman indicated, next week we will have a video-
conference with leaders from the European Parliament, and for
the Members of the Committee, we will have an orientation
session Tuesday, April 11, at 4 o'clock in this room, where we
can get into some more of the specifics.
Chairman Gilman. Thank you, Doctor Garon. Please make note
of that date for the orientation session, and our chance to use
our new equipment.
I am now pleased to call on our Ranking Minority Member,
the gentleman from Connecticut, Mr. Gejdenson.
Mr. Gejdenson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I would like to
join you in remembering Jack Brady, who we all worked with for
so many years. I know that Jack, in his last years, had a great
time regularly playing golf with my own senior Senator, Senator
Dodd, and on one occasion at least Senator Dodd brought him to
a golf game with the President that Jack really enjoyed. He was
a good soul, committed to America's foreign policy and our
interest, somebody who worked hard for the Members for all the
years he was here, and I considered him a friend. So I join you
in that remembrance.
I also join you this morning in your view on Haiti. There
is no question that in the United States there is a clear
expectation that Haiti should have elections, they should occur
as quickly as possible and meet the June dates. There are
13,000 officials in rural municipalities at all levels seeking
office. This is not a time for Haiti to turn backward; it is a
time for it to take a step forward.
Some of the recent violence, of course, is very
frustrating, and we would expect former President Aristide to
use his popularity to make sure that any violence that may be
coming from his party be put to an immediate end.
The people of Haiti have suffered for so long. They are
among the poorest, most densely populated country in our
hemisphere, and we are not at a point where we can afford to
abandon this policy, and we expect the Administration to make
it very clear to the Haitian government that we expect these
elections to occur in a timely manner.
The political advantage for one or another party in trying
to change the election cycle would have a damaging impact on
Haiti, and it is critical to take this democratic step at this
time. It is already late, but we still have time to succeed,
and I certainly hope that the Administration does everything it
can to press the Haitian government.
Chairman Gilman. Are there any other Members seeking
recognition?
Mr. Payne. Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Gilman. Mr. Payne.
Mr. Payne. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Let me just
be very brief and commend you for holding this meeting. We had
one in November, and I am glad to know that we are concerned
about what is happening in Haiti. I am glad that we are joined
by Mr. Conyers, the Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee.
He has spent a tremendous amount of time and has visited Haiti
on a number of occasions, and probably because he is not a
Member of this Committee did not feel he ought to speak. I just
want to say that we are really grateful for the interest that
he has shown and the initiatives that he has taken in relation
to Haiti.
I traveled there about a dozen times myself, and the last
trip in September was under the leadership of Mr. Conyers, with
Mr. Hilliard, Mr. Campbell, Mr. Faleomavaega, and Ms.
Christensen, and we met with President Preval, Candidate Jean
Bertrand Aristide, and Colin Granison, who is the head of the
U.N. OAS Civilian Mission, as well as many Members of the Civil
Society.
At that time, we did express our concerns to former
President Aristide that elections would not be held in a timely
fashion. We were hoping that the elections could be held to
seat the new Parliament by mid-June. As we know, that is
approaching. There have been problems, of course, with
registration, but we are happy to hear that ID cards have been
distributed--I understand about three million. Of course, they
really have laminated photo ID cards, pretty sophisticated. We
haven't gotten to that point in New Jersey yet, but I am glad
that it is felt necessary there, which was, of course, a
problem because of the difficulty of getting this done.
But we are certainly hoping that the elections can move
forward, and we would be very happy to hear the witnesses and
the questions. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Gilman. Thank you, Mr. Payne. Mr. Delahunt.
Mr. Delahunt. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am pleased that
you called this particular hearing. I really think it is
important, and I am glad to see the Ranking Member of the
Judiciary Committee, who has made such an investment of time
and passion and dedication to Haiti.
My first trip with him was back when I first came to
Congress--I think I was here maybe 4 months--and Mr. Conyers
invited me to Haiti with him. I think I have accompanied him on
most trips to Haiti at this point in time.
When we were last in Haiti, which I think was sometime in
February, we were hopeful that the March 19th date for
elections would be respected. Clearly, we were also informed at
that point in time that there could very well be an extension.
While we were disappointed an extension was necessary to April
9, to receive the news that the April 9th date then could not
be complied with but was indefinitely delayed has really
created, I believe, a situation where the OAS, in some
statements by representatives of that organization, that Haiti
should be declared a nondemocratic state have to be considered.
If there is not in a matter of days some reassurance that there
will be a date specified again, I want to be very careful in
not suggesting responsibility or culpability on any particular
party, but this has simply gone on too long. The reality is
that democracy is at great risk in Haiti, and I would hope that
the political leadership of Haiti--and by that I mean all
parties and not just political parties, but all segments of the
community, come together and take action and agree to a date
specific.
I mentioned to you, Mr. Chairman, I am working on a
resolution which would endorse the OAS' indication of the
Santiago Commitment, and I will present that to you and to
other Members for your review and, if we don't have a date
certain, I would hope that that particular resolution would be
marked up. I yield back.
Chairman Gilman. Thank you, Mr. Delahunt. We certainly
would want to move forward on your resolution. Any other
Members seeking recognition?
[No response.]
If not, we will now proceed with our witness.
Chairman Gilman. Appearing before us today as our witness
is Assistant Secretary of State for the new Western Hemisphere
Affairs Bureau at the State Department, former Ambassador Peter
Romero. A 23-year career diplomat, Ambassador Romero previously
served inter alia as principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, U.S.
Ambassador to Ecuador, and Charge of our Embassy in San
Salvador. We welcome you today, Mr. Ambassador. You may put
your full statement in the record and summarize whatever you
deem appropriate. Please proceed.
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE PETER F. ROMERO, ACTING ASSISTANT
SECRETARY FOR WESTERN HEMISPHERE AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Ambassador Romero. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am pleased to
testify before the Committee today to discuss recent
developments in Haiti and our mutual efforts to promote
positive change here.
This hearing is well timed since upcoming weeks are crucial
to the mutual efforts to promote democracy and development in
that country.
I have submitted, as you mentioned, a statement for the
record, but I would really like to share a few brief thoughts
with you and Members of the Committee.
Chairman Gilman. Without objection, your full statement
will be made part of the record.
Ambassador Romero. Thank you. First of all, Mr. Chairman,
let me applaud your efforts and those of your colleagues in
submitting this letter to the Haitian government. We, too,
share 100 percent the sentiments expressed in those letters
with respect to violence and setting a date for elections.
Quite frankly, Mr. Chairman, I could not have drafted a better
letter. I think it encapsulizes and enshrines the concerns of
all of us in this room.
Since the early 1990's, a pivotal component of our policy
has been the strength in the democratic institutions that can
foster Haiti recovery and development. Certainly when the
Preval government was seated in office, it gave great promise
to the Haitian people--one elected government turning over
power to another elected government which, in Haiti's history,
was the first time that that had happened. It was a watershed
event. Now the prospects for that democratic opening and that
democratic maturization are beginning, unfortunately, to erode.
Notwithstanding out support for democracy and development,
there was the seriously irregular 1997 election which has
resulted in the resignation of the Prime Minister, the
subsequent cancellation of 1998's legislative and local
elections, January 1999's dismissal of the Parliament by
President Preval, and extra constitutional rule in Haiti since
then.
Haiti today is a divided house, paralyzed from within, with
progress since 1994 in democratic institution strengthening,
economic recovery and development severely hampered.
Lack of Parliament and local government for 15 months and
the continuing failure of President Preval to hold elections to
restore them thwarts strongly expressed Haitian desires to
participate in a democratic process. In fact, Mr. Chairman,
what we are seeing in Haiti today is truly an election fever.
Voter registration for elections previously set for March 19th
has encompassed almost four million Haitian citizens newly
registered, or about 90 percent of eligible voters. Twenty-nine
thousand candidates representing a broad spectrum of political
parties have registered to compete for 10,000 local, regional
and national posts. This is truly spectacular.
Election fever, fueled by candidate debates, poll-watcher
training, Haitian media attention, and the presence of election
information centers spreads from Port-au-Prince to
geographically isolated Haitian villages.
Today, Haiti's homegrown political crisis has spread to
include street demonstrations and violence. We are truly
shocked by recent killings, including that of noted journalist
Jean Dominique. These apparent efforts to disrupt elections are
extremely troubling both to the people of Haiti desiring to
express their democratic rights, and to the government of the
United States in support of that desire.
Equally troubling has been the failure of the Haitian
government to set a new date for elections, particularly in
time for a new parliament to be constituted by the beginning of
the legislative session set for June 12th, as mandated by the
Haitian constitution.
Messages sent by our government to the GOH regarding the
importance and urgency of these elections have been clear and
unequivocal. Failure to constitute a parliament by June 12th
risks isolating Haiti from the community of democracies and
jeopardizes future cooperation.
Mr. Chairman, fellow Members of the Committee, there is a
meeting underway now before the Permanent Council of the
Organization of American States to debate what is happening in
Haiti today, and with the aim of sending the Secretary General
of the Organization of American States, Caesar Garviria, to
that country as soon as possible to take an assessment and to
report back to the Permanent Council to determine what future
action may be taken.
The government of Haiti must, and can, commit itself to
work with the Provisional Electoral Council to support the
financial, logistical and security support for free, fair and
security elections.
Electoral-related violence must cease immediately. The
legitimacy of Haiti's Presidential elections later this year
relies on credible separate elections this spring.
U.S. policy has been announced publicly and communicated
directly in a repeated fashion by Administration officials to
the government of Haiti and Haitian national political leaders.
We are working with others in the international community
to deliver similar messages. I will address the Permanent
Council, as I mentioned, hopefully later on this morning. I
feel that there are no excuses that remain for Haiti not to
hold credible elections, only the political will seems to be
lacking.
Cooperation with the Committee is paramount to achieving
our goals in Haiti. Engaging in Haiti, however fatiguing or
frustrating, must continue.
I look forward to frank exchanges and to work with you to
do what we can, Mr. Chairman, fellow Members of the Committee,
so that Haiti follows a democratic path and will continue
toward its overall development.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[The statement of Ambassador Romero appears in the
appendix.]
Chairman Gilman. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. I realize the
Secretary will have to leave by 11:30, so we will ask our
Members to please be brief in their questioning.
I am informed, Mr. Secretary, that the Provisional
Electoral Council is making the necessary arrangements to hold
their elections in time to allow the National Assembly to
convene on the second Monday in June, as urged by the
Organization of American States. At this point, isn't the
primary impediment to scheduling elections a lack of political
will on the part of Haiti's President, Rene Preval?
Ambassador Romero. Mr. Chairman, it is difficult to probe
into the depths of President Preval's thinking on this, but let
me just make a few comments.
First of all, we believe that the CEP has done its due
diligence. It has registered about 90 percent-plus of the
electorate. There has been an overwhelming response, over 400
people have newly registered. There are no longer lines. People
who want to register have been able to register.
We believe that the time is right. The perfect would be the
enemy of the good here, and that they can conduct proper
transparent, fair and honest elections by the end of this
month, if the political will of the president were there.
Chairman Gilman. Is the will there, or isn't it?
Ambassador Romero. We haven't seen it yet, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Gilman. Isn't it true that unlike previous
elections, a number of key Haitian parties have actively
supported this election?
Ambassador Romero. We have, I believe, most all political
parties have registered candidates, have signed a Code of
Conduct for certain minimal standards with respect to
campaigning and the conduct of those campaigns and to abide by
the elections. We believe the time has never been more ripe for
elections, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Gilman. Mr. Secretary, is the government of Haiti
or its political allies attempting to undermine, or perhaps
even force, the Provisional Electoral Council to disband?
Ambassador Romero. Mr. Chairman, there are all kinds of
pressures in Haiti, whether they be threats of violence or
actual violence. It is very difficult to say that the
government is behind this. I don't see that we have any
evidence of government intimidation of political parties.
Chairman Gilman. At our December 1997 Haitian hearing, Mr.
Hamilton, our Ranking Democratic Member at the time, asked
Ambassador David Greenlee for his frank appraisal of Mr.
Aristide. Ambassador Greenlee was reluctant to answer his
questions.
Let me pose to you Mr. Hamilton's question with the same
request for your frank assessment from an American national
interest standpoint. Is Mr. Aristide at this point being
helpful or not being helpful?
Ambassador Romero. Mr. Chairman, I would note that with
respect to the Code of Ethics, one of the first parties to sign
that Code of Ethics and a nonviolent pledge was ex-President
Aristide and his party.
We have spoken repeatedly with him, as we have President
Preval and the heads of the other political parties, with
respect to setting a date for elections. He has told us that he
is in favor of elections. I have to say that we have to
separate deed from word.
We have asked him repeatedly to come out foursquare
publicly in favor of elections, he has failed to do so thus
far. He has given us his private assurances that and his party
are ready to conduct these elections as soon as possible, but I
haven't seen the public support that would be crucial to moving
President Preval and getting the CEP machinery in place to hold
these elections.
Chairman Gilman. When our congressional delegation visited
Haiti I think about a year ago January of this year--Mr. Goss,
Mr. Conyers, Mr. Rangel, and myself--we were assured by both
Mr. Aristide and Mr. Preval that they would make certain that
there would be a fair an open election and that it would take
place within the required time limits as set forth by the
Electoral Council. It seems to me that they are not fulfilling
that promise. What is your assessment?
Ambassador Romero. Mr. Chairman, it looks like they, at
least President Preval, have walked away or have attempted to
walk away from commitments not only made to us but, more
importantly, to the Haitian people.
Certainly, this is something that we have engaged in with
the Haitian government, with President Preval directly since he
disbanded the Parliament in February 1999. It has been almost
14 months since then.
Certainly, at that time, he gave us a deep commitment on
his part that he would convene a CEP, that he would organize a
CEP, which he has; that it would be a good organization that
would be balanced and have Members of political parties, but
also people who are independents. He has. Those members of that
body have done a yeoman job in putting together the necessary
requirements to register and to print ballots and to provide
for the proper atmosphere for campaigning.
We had looked at the beginning of last year, we were given
commitments that it would be as soon as possible. It dragged on
until November. We have had successive dates established from
November to February to March, and here we are in April with
the June 12th constitutionally mandated date, looming over the
horizon, and we still do not have fulfillment of the
commitments, the repeated commitments, made to us by President
Preval.
Chairman Gilman. An apparent lack of will by President
Preval to conduct the election. Mr. Gejdenson.
Mr. Gejdenson. Ambassador, at the OAS meeting, what
leverage do we have on the rulers in Haiti as compared--I mean,
obviously we wouldn't want to do anything to cause pain to the
average citizen already living in the worst conditions on the
hemisphere. What is it that we can either individually or
collectively do that would have an impact on either of these
two gentlemen, Mr. Aristide and Mr. Preval?
Ambassador Romero. That is a very good question,
Congressman Gejdenson. I think that we will continue to put
pressure. I would hope that we would be able to enjoy the
support of Members of this Committee to continue to put
pressure on President Preval, particularly in the crucial in
the next week to 10 days to hold these elections.
What we are attempting to do is to amplify the chorus of
indignation of the international community, particularly in
this hemisphere, that elections have not been set, that they
have not been yet held, and that Haiti and the Haitian
government is moving down an undemocratic path.
Certainly, we have not been alone on this. The European
Union, particularly France, other members of the OAS and the
hemisphere individually have spoken out, but what we are hoping
to do is set a process in place of review that would involve
discussion of where we are, what we see and what the hemisphere
sees as happening in Haiti now, to send the Secretary General
down there to provide a hands-on assessment of what he sees, to
come back to the Council, and then to determine what action
might be necessary to include perhaps the convening of
Resolution 1080.
Mr. Gejdenson. Where does Aristide get his political base
from at the moment? Where does his strength come from?
Ambassador Romero. I think ex-President Aristide has
enjoyed strength from across the political spectrum. In Haiti,
it is very difficult to say that it comes from one group or
another. Certainly, he enjoys widespread support with respect
to the peasantry, but also others running the spectrum, to
include the business classes and to include the Haitian exiled
communities in New York and in Miami and elsewhere.
Mr. Gejdenson. Does the business community have any sense
that they would like to see these elections, or are they
against moving forward with the elections? What is your sense
on this?
Ambassador Romero. I can only tell you that on the basis of
what our Embassy reports, and folks who have been down there
have reported, and my own visit down there about 9 months ago
where I really saw the various chambers being enthused by the
elections, for the first time engaging in the process, it was a
dramatic, very positive thing to see in a country where
engaging in politics, even campaigning, could be hazardous to
your health. The business community down there was throwing
caution aside, really engaging in this.
There was some intimidation to stop it early on, that has
stopped. I believe that the vast majority of the business
sector, the private sector in Haiti is foursquare in favor of
holding elections as soon as possible.
Mr. Gejdenson. Thank you.
Chairman Gilman. Thank you, Mr. Gejdenson and Mr. Brady.
Mr. Brady. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this
important hearing today. Like you, we are all concerned about
the political situation in Haiti, and look forward to the time
when we see free and fair elections in the country.
Mr. Ambassador, thank you for being here today. I am
getting a first-hand lesson in the way the government of Haiti
acts, and I have serious questions about a particular incident
regarding a company based in my district in Texas, Rice
Corporation of Haiti.
In short, the government of Haiti has seized the assets of
this company. They have leveled trumped-up unspecified customs
violations which this company didn't commit. This company now
faces expropriation of their business by the Haiti State, under
the guise of this customs dispute, the officials in Haiti have
run the proprietors off their site. They've ransacked their
homes and private businesses, to which they are not allowed
access today. Threats have been made on their lives, forcing
them to flee the country.
Haiti has reneged repeatedly on agreements to settle this
dispute despite the fact that this company prefers to resolve
this and joins with the U.S. Embassy in seeking a fair and
proportionate resolution to this issue.
As a result, Senator Helms, the distinguished Chairman of
the Foreign Relations Committee, has put a hold on all U.S. aid
to Haiti until the situation is resolved. He is working on
legislation along the same lines and, although I don't prefer
that action, I am considering the same legislation until we get
some action from the government of Haiti.
Also along those lines, Senator Helms has recently written
a letter to Secretary Albright, asking her to assess
involvement of several Haitian officials to expropriate this
money and property from this U.S. company.
My question to you, Mr. Ambassador, is, what is the status
of this assessment? Is the State Department prepared to deny
those responsible individuals a visa, and can you tell me what
the executive branch is doing to help resolve the crisis
between Rice Corporation of Haiti and the Haitian government?
Ambassador Romero. Thank you, Congressman Brady. First of
all, from the beginning, the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince and
U.S. officials here in Washington--I being one of them--have
moved aggressively to protect U.S. business interests and also
to protect the safety of U.S. citizens down there, and we will
continue, let me assure you, to do so.
The Embassy at Port-au-Prince repeatedly contacted senior
Finance Customs officials on RCH's behalf, as well as police
and judicial authorities. Washington-based visitors to Haiti
also raised the case at the highest level of the Haitian
government with President Preval and Prime Minister Alexis.
We have also reminded the Haitian government both in
Washington and in Port-au-Prince that regardless of the
specifics and possible fault, the way in which the RCH case has
been handled feeds perceptions in the business community that
due process does not exist in Haiti and that the Haitian
government is hostile to private business interests. Certainly,
the law enforcement and the judicial aspects of this case left
a lot to be desired. We continue to put pressure.
That said, there is a legal action pending in both U.S. and
Haitian courts between two U.S. companies over the ownership of
Rice Corporation Haiti, and we are awaiting the outcome of that
development. I think the case is expected to be heard in Texas
in May.
Nonetheless, we continue to actively engage all parties to
reach a settlement that is both fair and consistent with
Haitian and U.S. law.
Mr. Brady. Thank you, Mr. Ambassador. As you know, the
legal action in the U.S. is frankly too complicated, and not
much the business of Congress and the State Department. Initial
actions by the Rice Corporation of Haiti's opponents were
poured out summarily in a Texas District Court initially, and
if I have two messages here for you, it is first, Haiti needs
to understand Congress is not going away on this issue until it
is resolved fairly and proportionately; and second, you have
some good people working for you on the ground on Haiti.
Phyllis Forbes and Ken Mertin have done a wonderful job on
this, and Washington, D.C. Deputy Assistant Secretary Lino
Gutierrez and Marcia Barnes, Director of Caribbean Affairs,
have been very responsive, so please pass my thanks on to them.
Ambassador Romero. Thank you, Congressman; messages
received.
Mr. Brady. Thank you.
Chairman Gilman. Thank you, Mr. Brady. Mr. Delahunt.
Mr. Delahunt. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield to my friend
and colleague, Mr. Conyers.
Mr. Conyers. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank Bill Delahunt,
but I also want to get the permission of my colleagues here. I
am a visitor here--should be waiting, but Bill knows we have
Internet gambling coming up in Judiciary.
Chairman Gilman. Mr. Conyers, we welcome having you here,
and please proceed. You are Ranking Member on our Judiciary
Committee and have long-term interest in Haiti, and we welcome
your questioning.
Mr. Conyers. Thank you very much, and to all of you who are
here, we all join in in commending Ambassador Romero for the
good job that he is doing.
Now, I want to indicate that I join the chorus of those
that are amplifying their indignation at the international
level with the Family of Nations about the slowness of what is
going on, but I just want to make sure that we don't trip over
some very important realities here. There is no national police
force, no national army in Haiti.
We meet with the head of the National Police Force, Pierre
Manuel, every time we are there. He gets great grades--he is an
excellent commander. We meet every time with the former
President, Jean Bertrand Aristide, and I think I can document
that he has not just privately, but publicly gone on record
repeatedly for elections, free and fair open elections as early
as possible and, as you have indicated, Mr. Ambassador, he was
the first to sign the agreement that there would be
nonviolence.
The problem that we are faced with is this: we need--short
of any of us going back down there again, which we were
preparing to do as observers for the election, we were all in
place with bags packed--but we need to understand that there
are some problems there. We met with the Chairman and the
members of CEP and with President Preval.
What I really need to know is exactly where are the 40,000
personnel for the election, and where are we on that because we
have a 75-percent illiteracy rate.
We could be moving toward the biggest mess in terms of an
important worldwide election that we have ever seen, trying to
get that sort of thing. We saw the laminated photograph ID's, I
think that has come off reasonably well, but the security of
the records, the acquisition of 40,000 personnel, the training
of them, and the distribution of the voting material at the
right place and right time and then getting it back in a secure
manner is something that we really don't want to just say call
the date. I would like you to respond to that, and also ask if
you do not agree with me that it was correct, in hindsight now,
to have suspended the April 9th elections, that many of the
things we were concerned about may have horribly come to
fruition.
So could you, from that perspective, give me responses to
these comments, please, sir?
Ambassador Romero. Thank you, Congressman Conyers. First,
let me express the State Department's deep appreciation for
your very direct and effective role in Haiti. You have, as we
all have, been frustrated by the lack of progress, but you
haven't let that get in the say and you continue to be a
champion for democracy in Haiti, along with your colleagues,
and let me just reiterate that we very much appreciate it.
Congressman, I think that we can all find problems, some of
them more significant than others, with respect to the
organization by the CEP of the elections. With respect to your
particular question, I believe that the CEP is on the verge of
selecting all 40,000 campaign workers, where a couple of weeks
ago they were pretty far away from it.
Certainly, in all of the organization that has been done by
the CEP and with much of our support, the support of IFIS, they
have come a long way in the last 30 days; and I would say
probably had the elections been held 30, 60, or 90 days ago,
they probably would not have been, or would not be as good as
they would be now, if we can get an election date set.
Let me just reiterate a couple of reasons why we believe
very strongly elections need to be held. First of all, I
mentioned the election fever. Without holding elections, you
will have a country that will have gone through an
unprecedented registration process and groundswell of support
for registration. You will have those democratic desires and
hopes dashed.
But even more importantly, we have seen about $400 million
of IDB and World Bank money parked, waiting to be used in
Haiti, for a couple of years now, and not being able to be used
because there is no Congress to approve it.
We have been very disappointed, as you have been, with the
lack of judicial reform, and a lot of that is a direct result
of the fact that there is no Congress to appoint new judges.
There have been no elections to have new judges on the scene.
There hasn't been a new judicial code in Haiti, which is very,
very necessary.
These are only just a few of the problems associated with
not having a Congress. I think that the conditions are
sufficient to have good, transparent, honest and fair
elections.
Mr. Conyers. Thank you very much, sir. I want you to know
that I agree with every statement that you made in response to
my question, but could you, by the end of the working day--they
are going to be meeting tomorrow, and I presume, in my jaded
senior way, that this hearing was called to help even motivate
them further in addition to the Family of Nations outcry that
is going on. But couldn't somebody--we have got a great Embassy
there, and had several very good people there in charge--but
couldn't somebody tell me before the close of business tonight,
the CEP position of where they are right now? Couldn't
somebody--I could pick up the phone and call President Preval
myself--but in the line of the diplomatic relationships that we
have, talk to him, and that we come forward with a hearing that
specifically lists what the president of this beleaguered
nation's problems are--they are one, two, three, four, five--
and the Chairman of the CEP and that Commission, who are a
pretty independent group because they were appointed out of a
conciliation of other parties and personalities in Haiti, so
that even though the president appointed them, they are
operating strictly on their own--and couldn't we come up with
five or four points that have caused them this kind of angst
that we now meet about?
That way, we wouldn't be talking in the general way about
the goals and problems and timetable that we are now, which are
all quite accurate, but they don't--I would like to present to
you if you don't present to me, a list of what President Preval
has going on in his head that is the problem and that of the
CEP, too. If we had that, I think we would be dealing with the
specifics.
Now, by tomorrow, I think tomorrow we will know--24 hours
from now, we will know where they are and what they are doing.
But could you help me get to the detail of this matter?
Ambassador Romero. Congressman Conyers, you put your finger
on an issue that is a moving target. Certainly, there is a lot
of progress being made on an hourly basis in Haiti, and so when
it comes to our attention issues related to selection of 40,000
poll workers, et cetera, et cetera, we work through IFES with
the CEP to move this ahead. Certainly, there has been enormous
progress made over the last couple of days.
Well over a week ago, our Embassy was convinced that good
elections could be held. If there are remaining issues that are
going to be teed up for the CEP meeting, the meeting between
the President and the CEP tomorrow, I will get those to you.
Chairman Gilman. The gentleman's time has expired.
Mr. Conyers. Thank you.
Chairman Gilman. Mr. Ballenger.
Mr. Ballenger. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think Mr. Conyers
asked the question I really was going to ask you, on just what
basic reason Preval might have for not wanting the elections.
Is there some theory without actual facts, but some vision that
has been created to understand that better? For those of us
that haven't been there, I just really don't know.
Ambassador Romero. Congressman Ballenger, it is good to
have you here with us today, and again let me thank you for all
the good work that you have done for us generally in the
hemisphere. We know we can count on you, but also particularly
in Haiti.
It is hard to crawl into somebody's mind and get their
motivation. Certainly, there have been very legitimate doubts
raised based on specific issues, the likes of which Congressman
Conyers raised.
One has to step back and wonder, though, whether those are
an excuse for moving ahead without a Congress. Certainly, when
the Congress was abolished in February 1999 and there were lots
of commitments that there would be elections soon, and the CEP,
et cetera, to conduct them, we had believed that because of
irregularities from the 1997 elections that were hampering the
functioning of those two houses of congress, that there would
be a new election to rectify those situations, and two new
bodies established--or elections for representatives of those
two bodies as soon as possible.
We have seen our efforts dashed, and those of the Haitian
people, political parties. One can conclude perhaps that
President Preval believes that congresses are superfluous to
democracy and that they are perhaps messy and that they hamper
as opposed to enhance the democratic experience.
Mr. Ballenger. Just it appears, when they had congress,
nothing happened, they didn't accomplish anything. Then he gets
rid of Congress and they don't accomplish anything, so we are
going to have another election to elect a new Congress. Is
there any reason to think that the country will be better off?
Ambassador Romero. I think that when it comes to the basic
tools of democracy, Congressman Ballenger, dialogue and
compromise and that sort of thing, you don't move the situation
along by having an abbreviated government running that country.
Sooner or later, Haitians have to sit down and engage in
constant dialogue the way we do in this body, and to engage in
the kind of compromise and understanding and exchange that
constitutes basic democratic principles. Until that happens, it
is going to be an abbreviated democracy.
Mr. Ballenger. Let me ask you just a straight out question.
Have you received any reporting on who was behind the murder of
the owner of Radio Haiti-Inter?
Ambassador Romero. Let me say that we are shocked by the
murder of one of Haiti's most well known radio and print media
personalities, Jean Dominique. I have to liken it to the murder
of the most popular talk show host in Colombia a couple of
months back. It is a message that assassins and criminals and
terrorists like to send through a society by murdering some of
the best-liked people in that society, sending a chilling
message to the Haitian people--in this case, the Body
Politique--that there is no place to hide, and to try to get
courageous people from all of the political parties and from
the private sector to back down and think twice about getting
out in front and championing democracy and elections, et
cetera.
I can't tell you that we have any information or leads at
this time. We are pressing the HNP to investigate fully.
Mr. Ballenger. One last question. Knowing that the drug
trade is flowing rather thoroughly through Haiti, is there any
likelihood that the drug traffic actually is influencing who is
the government in Haiti at the present time, or can you tell?
Ambassador Romero. It is very difficult to tell. I would
have to say that it is likely that some drug money is going to
the campaigns of some politicians. I can't tell you with any
kind of specificity who they might be, and where it might be
coming from. Certainly, we estimate about 13 percent of all of
the cocaine that comes into the United States transits through
Haiti. We don't believe that the Haitian government has done an
adequate job with respect to cooperating on counter-narcotics,
ergo, we did not certify them, or more accurately, decertify
them and gave them a waiver. We continue to work with them;
hopefully, we will see better performance over the next year.
But in terms of drug corruption itself, it is one of those
targets that in the best societies is really very shadowy.
Chairman Gilman. The gentleman's time has expired.
Mr. Ballenger. Thank you.
Chairman Gilman. Thank you, Mr. Ballenger. Mr. Payne.
Mr. Payne. Thank you very much. When we were there in
September, we met with Secretary of State Security, Bob Manuel,
and we met with the Director of the Haitian National Police,
Pierre Denize. As we know, on October 7 Bob Manuel resigned
from his position.
My question is, has the Secretary for State Security been
filled? Is there currently a person in that position?
Ambassador Romero. It has not been filled, and I think that
that was a position that was created largely to better buttress
and support the police. We would hope that it would be filled
as soon as possible. Police Chief Denize is doing a yeoman's
job in keeping that force apolitical, keeping them on the right
track, investigating allegations, accusations of abuses. I
believe that they have got 58 ex-policemen currently
incarcerated, with many others having been separated for abuses
and corruption. I believe that the last time I was here, one of
the chief concerns of the Committee was pressure being placed
to politicize the police. We are in very close contact with
Police Chief Denize, and he has told us that the political
pressure that was coming from various quarters seems to have
abated, and he feels more comfortable in his job.
Mr. Payne. I know of the October 14th attempted
assassination on Jean Lemy. Now, when you try to put your
finger on who is causing what, Lemy was a close associate of
Aristide, and someone tried to kill him. Rumor has it that it
is former President Aristide creating all the problems, but I
can't imagine or guess why he would try to hurt one of his own
top supporters.
Is there any way--and it is easy to say, he is probably the
most prominent person in the country, so anything that goes
wrong, he is doing it--is there any way to put any credence to
the fact that it is the Aristide forces that is creating the
problem there, in general?
Ambassador Romero. Congressman, I asked the same question
that you just put to me a couple of days ago when this first
happened, and I have to say that the answer that I got was that
Mr. Dominique had spoken out so vociferously against
corruption, against nepotism, even speaking out against
members, or policies, of the Preval government, policies or
actions of Famni Lavalas and Aristide as well as other parties,
that it is very, very difficult to determine a political
motivation since he was so courageous in speaking out publicly.
Mr. Payne. The CEP will be meeting tomorrow. The
elections--is there a date scheduled, did we hear a June date,
or is that a target date? Has that been a fixed date, or is it
something that will be discussed?
Ambassador Romero. The June 12th date corresponds to
another date, and that is January--and I am told that in the
Haitian constitution those are two dates where new assemblies,
two houses, can be seated. So, if you work back from that date
and you determine that there has to be two rounds of elections
held and the machinery put in place to hold them, with the
balloting, the campaign workers, et cetera, then you begin to
get a very strong sense that unless elections are held by the
end of April 30th, that it would be exceedingly difficult to
put all of that in place to have it take place and then to seat
a Congress or to seat two houses of legislators by June 12.
Mr. Payne. Still, December is the final election date,
proposed date, for the election of the president, correct?
Ambassador Romero. That is correct. It has been talked
about, it hasn't been set, but, yes, indeed.
Mr. Payne. Of course, one of the goals is certainly to
ensure that the elections are held separately. It would be
difficult to hold Presidential elections and elections for the
parliament at the same time.
Ambassador Romero. Mechanically, I am told it would be
virtually impossible to hold all of those elections at one
time, yes, sir.
The other part of it that needs to be taken into
consideration is that parties have spent so much already on
campaign. There has been a lot of organizational work done. As
I mentioned earlier, we have got election fever and the desires
of many Haitians that if you were to postpone these elections
to the fall, you would probably get many opposition parties who
would boycott them, and I am worried about what would happen in
terms of the credibility and validity of those elections if
they were to be folded into one, even if you could have them
all at one time.
Chairman Gilman. The gentleman's time has expired. Mr.
Hastings.
Mr. Hastings. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and,
Ambassador Romero, thank you for all of your efforts.
I would assume that the primary objective is to have free
and fair and peaceful elections, am I correct?
Ambassador Romero. That is correct.
Mr. Hastings. I could make an argument for you, and I
won't, that what you just said might very well not be the case.
I believe personally that the elections could be held at the
same time. While I do not favor that, I don't see any
prohibition in putting one more line on an election and letting
it go forward.
Toward that end, what do you intend to say today to the
Organization of American States Permanent Council specifically
regarding the dangers to democracy?
Ambassador Romero. Thank you. I think that is an excellent
question, and if I could preview some of my remarks with the
Committee, I would like to, and that is that from the moment
that power was transferred from then President Aristide to
President Preval, I think that there was a great deal of hope
within Haiti that democratic institutions would begin to
function; that there would be reforms put into place; that
certainly economic development would go hand-in-hand with this
political maturation process; certainly, that there would be
problems and violence, politically motivated violence, would
not end overnight, but that there would be more of a linear
progression toward a full democracy in Haiti.
Certainly, as Congressman Ballenger pointed out earlier,
there was a raucous parliament where business was not conducted
in an easy fashion, but there was progress and there was
debate, which is absolutely crucial.
But in February 1999, when President Preval abolished
those bodies, and even before that in, I believe, April 1997
where there were some serious concerns about the outcome of or
the results of elections for those bodies, we were told--but,
more importantly, the Haitian people were told--that this would
lead to the creation or the re-establishment of an electoral
tribunal to guide the country toward elections as soon as
practicable.
That has not happened but, more importantly, we see a
political will that seemed to exist a year ago vanish on the
part of the president. Certainly, there are specific problems
associated with registering 4.2-plus million people, but most
of those have been overcome with 4 million people registered,
given ID's with pictures on them that is unprecedented in
Haitian history, and the time is ripe for elections because of
all of the other issues that I have mentioned in terms of the
need for Haiti to have a functioning Congress.
Certainly, you can roll it all over into one big election
in the autumn. The country would suffer as a result. I am not
so sure that fiscally this country can make it to the end of
the year without some disbursements from the International
Financial Institutions----
Mr. Hastings. Is the international community prepared to
withdraw added assistance financially?
Ambassador Romero. Congressman Hastings, we do not provide
direct assistance to the Haitian government. I can't speak for
other governments, but I would have to say that those who are
providing direct assistance would have to think twice about
that assistance in light of the Permanent Council action in the
OAS today.
Mr. Hastings. Let me ask you then, specifically, and make a
prediction for you. There won't be any election in time for a
parliament to be constituted by June 12th. I make that
prediction here, and I don't base it on anything other than
past experience with the slippage that has gone on. That said,
what are we going to do if there is no parliament on June 12th?
Ambassador Romero. If there is no parliament by June 12th,
I believe that what will happen will be the $400 million which
would provide a great deal of relief for the Haitian people
will probably disappear indefinitely. I believe that there
would be an added chorus of hemispheric leaders who would be
outraged at the direction that President Preval has decided to
take in Haiti. I believe that alongside of all of this, there
would be some actions that we, as the U.S. Government, would be
forced to take in the matter.
I do think that our policy would undergo a serious review.
This would all take place in the context of a campaign and
elections in the United States, which would probably not be
helpful for bipartisan policy toward Haiti, but I would hope
that would continue.
I do believe that it is absolutely essential that we
continue the aid programs that we have established and that
have had a great deal of success for the Haitian people--the
feeding programs, the infrastructure programs, the professional
development programs in the police and the judiciary, the
cooperation with the Coast Guard--all of those things, along
with environmental programs, are extremely vital and have had
very good success, and I would not advocate taking those off
the table.
Mr. Hastings. We do know that if we declare them to be
removed from the Nation of democracies, I guess we would be
calling them a ``non-democracy,'' and then when the boats float
and they come to our shores, greater arguments can be made for
those that arrive here, that they should be granted some status
similar to other persons in the hemisphere who come from non-
democracies.
Chairman Gilman. The gentleman's time has expired. Thank
you, Mr. Hastings. Mr. Meeks.
Mr. Meeks. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr.
Ambassador, also.
Let me ask a question because, right on the line, I am
concerned, when is a democracy not a democracy? When the people
don't have the free will to vote, and it seems as though, from
your testimony, the people of Haiti are excited, over 90
percent of the people registered to vote. However, when I
talked to some of the opposition candidates and when I have
talked to some of the people, they are fearful for their lives
if, in fact, there is an election and they go out to vote. With
the Chief of the Haitian National Police and the U.N.
International Civilian Police Mission pulling out, and the U.N.
Civilian Mission in Haiti closed, if we have an election--you
need an election that has some integrity--and if we just have
an election and there is no integrity in the election, then we
are still going to be wrought with problems afterwards because
people are not going to respect the result of the elections.
So I am wondering, as we are moving forward and preparing
for elections and saying there is going to be one in June, what
do we have on the ground or in place so that there can be
integrity in the results of an election, if it is had, so that
the people will feel that their will was had? What do we have
on the ground--I think that Congressman Conyers asked--so that
the people can go out to vote and feel safe when they are
voting, because the opposition leaders that I have spoken with
are fearing for their lives now as they sneak back over here
and talk to Members of Congress, have talked to me.
So, I wonder, first of all, what do we have there?
Ambassador Romero. First of all, let me separate your
question into two parts. One is whether there will be an honest
vote count, and the other is security surrounding casting the
ballot.
On the second, let me answer that we have earmarked about
$2 million from aid resources to support the security of the
HNP during the balloting. Obviously, we are already engaged
with purchasing trucks, vehicles, in order for them to get
around to polling places and to do the best they can to secure
areas, particularly those precincts which are in tense areas,
if you will, of the country for election day.
So, I think we will be as helpful as we possibly can with
the HNP to get out and to support as best they can the security
for these elections.
In terms of casting ballots, we have worked very closely
with the CEP through IFIS. We believe that there is a good
process in place to secure that balloting, to ensure the
secrecy of the ballots themselves. As I mentioned earlier, we
have got 40,000 workers, or almost 40,000 workers, who have
been trained and who will be trained, and I think they will be
in place to secure the same.
All of that having been said, when you look at the conduct
of previous elections, there have been an enormous amount of
international organizations on the scene with respect to the
OAS and the United Nations, hundreds of folks relegated to OAS
and U.N. missions, hundreds of observers on the ground, U.S.
military on the ground, and all of that is gone. The reason why
it is gone is because we and you all have determined that it
was time to pull Haiti off of these life supports, and to get
the patient to walk on its own. That is always going to
engender a great deal of uncertainty; but we believe that the
time is ripe to have these elections, conducted principally and
exclusively by Haitians.
Mr. Meeks. Mr. Hastings might have alluded to it, and I am
just trying to get edification for myself, I believe that the
U.S. and the International Development Banks and other agencies
had pledged to provide approximately somewhere in the area of
$2 billion in assistance by 1999. What is the status of that
money and the disbursement of that money? Is it contingent upon
the elections, or what is the status?
Ambassador Romero. I think that we know about $400 million
has been parked out there since 1997 or thereabouts. That is
still waiting, mostly World Bank and IDB money, and it is
contingent upon a Congress being seated. To us, it is
unconscionable that this money can't do the right things in
Haiti to help the Haitian people until there is a Congress
seated.
Chairman Gilman. The gentleman's time has expired. Thank
you, Mr. Meeks.
We are pleased to have been joined today by the
distinguished Chairman of our Intelligence Committee, the
gentleman from Florida, who has been a long-time advocate of
improving the situation in Haiti, Mr. Goss.
Mr. Goss. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Ambassador, thank you
for being here.
I have read about the recent organized violent street
protests and political assassinations that we have all seen.
Obviously, they represent a very serious and alarming
escalation of anti-election violence. They have the appearance
of being turned on and turned off by people who are able to do
that.
My first question is, did our Embassy in Port-au-Prince
warn you that such an escalation was imminent at anytime in the
past month or so, and second, did our Embassy make any policy
recommendations to you about what to do if we did have
increasing violence and, third, what were they and what were
you to do about them if, in fact, the violence came to pass, as
it did?
Ambassador Romero. The Embassy, to my best recollection,
reported that it is likely that as we move toward either the
date of elections or setting a date for elections, that there
would be likely increased violence. That has been a recurring
pattern in Haiti for a long, long time.
I don't recall--perhaps my colleagues can correct me--but I
don't recall that the Embassy reported any specific targets or
likely targets of that violence. Certainly, our own Embassy and
our own security posture of our folks down there is
continuously under review, and I believe that they have taken
the appropriate measures over the last couple of weeks to
ensure, to the extent possible, that U.S. officials and
Haitians connected with the Embassy are not harmed.
That having been said, there was an incident, I believe
last week, where one of our vehicles passing through one of the
neighborhoods had rocks and bottles and other things thrown at
it.
Mr. Goss. Other than protection, did the Embassy make any
policy recommendations to you about how to proceed with this
escalation of violence?
Ambassador Romero. I don't recall any specific policy
recommendations, Congressman.
Mr. Goss. Is it the Administration's current assessment
that Aristide seeks to be president for life?
Ambassador Romero. Aristide is not president now.
Mr. Goss. I didn't ask that. Is it your assessment that he
seeks to be president for life and get some advantage perhaps
out of a one-election versus a two-elections process?
Ambassador Romero. I think that ex-President Aristide has
been forthcoming with us, at least rhetorically, in saying that
he is foursquare in favor of elections, and before----
Mr. Goss. But not elections in June, he hasn't been
particularly helpful about that.
Ambassador Romero. No, he has told us that he would be in
favor of elections in June. Now, what we have said is, fine, go
out and support it publicly and press President Preval for
those same elections. Those are steps that he has not yet
taken.
We can extrapolate why he has not matched deed with word.
This has been very troubling for us. There have been,
particularly on the violent side, elements of the Famni Lavalas
Party, particularly the youth elements of that party who have
been responsible for some of the latest demonstrations that
resulted in the burning of a market and tires, et cetera, et
cetera.
Mr. Goss. Would you characterize that former President
Aristide's conduct has been helpful in getting the elections
accomplished by the CEP in order for the June deadline?
Ambassador Romero. I can't definitively say that they have
been helpful or harmful. I do know that his speaking out
publicly and his calling President Preval would be in the
helpful category. That has not yet taken place.
Mr. Goss. Do we have any plans in the Administration at
this point to reactivate Guantanamo Bay to be able to handle
the refugees in the event the violence continues and the
elections do not come to pass in June?
Ambassador Romero. I can't answer that, Congressman. I
don't know of any contingency planning that has been underway.
My understanding is that Guantanamo is basically kept at a
fairly high readiness rate in terms of refugees generally, but
I can't really explain to you today where they might be on
that. But if you would like, I can look into it and get back to
you.
Mr. Goss. It would occur to me that the Administration
should have contingency plans if things continue to deteriorate
in Haiti, because that seems to be the pattern. Is that a
reasonable assumption?
Ambassador Romero. I can only say it is a reasonable
assumption. I don't believe that we are on the cusp of seeing
boat people taking to boats and rafts again. Certainly, the
situation is frustrating and disquieting, but I don't see a
wave of humanity waiting in the cusp to leave Haiti.
Mr. Goss. How dangerous is it in Haiti today? If an
American tourist wanted to go there, or an Observation Team
wanted to go down and look into the CEP matters officially,
that range of conduct. How dangerous would it be in Haiti
today?
Ambassador Romero. My understanding is that the general
street crime and general criminality remains pretty much the
same, at unacceptably high levels. I haven't seen that change.
Certainly, the assassinations of a husband and wife political
team in Petit Goave was very troubling. That happened over the
weekend, and the assassination, or the murder, of Jean
Dominique on Monday--again, very troubling--we do not see this
as the beginning of a wave of political assassinations. It
would be too premature, at best, to be in a position to make
that kind of analysis.
Mr. Goss. I was not in the room, but I am advised that in
your earlier testimony you said that you have no feeling that
there is any official government intimidation that is holding
back the CEP in their efforts to get on with the election
process. Is that your assessment?
Ambassador Romero. I don't see government intimidation. In
fact, the CEP and President Preval have held several meetings
on this issue, so there is communication. Unfortunately, the
communication hasn't resulted in a unanimity of views on
holding these elections, but I haven't seen reports of
government intimidation of the CEP.
Mr. Goss. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Gilman. I want to thank Chairman Goss for
appearing today and taking part and participating in our
testimony. Chairman Goss has been a long-time advocate of
making certain we have good policy in Haiti.
Do you have a few more moments you can spare?
Ambassador Romero. Mr. Chairman, I have just been passed a
note that the Haitian Permanent Representative to the OAS, with
his colleagues, have succeeded in putting off the debate on
Haiti for 1 day, so it will not take place until tomorrow
afternoon.
Chairman Gilman. All right. That is helpful to us. We will
go for another round of questions.
Mr. Romero, Mr. Secretary, I want to make sure I fully
understand your testimony about what may have happened with
regard to the murder of Jean Dominique and his colleagues.
Is it really true that the U.S.--that our government--has
no information at all about who may have killed him?
Ambassador Romero. As of this morning, Mr. Chairman, we
didn't. We are pressing the investigative unit of the HNP to
get to the bottom of it. As I mentioned earlier, there are so
many people that he discussed and talked about so many issues
that he made public with respect to corruption and abuse of
power, that it would be hard to say or to pin it to any
particular group of people, at least at this point. But we are
hoping that the HNP continues its investigation, does its due
diligence, and gets to the bottom of it.
Chairman Gilman. Is there any suspicion that one of the
security advisors to former President Aristide or any other
prominent political figure in Haiti may have been a
perpetrator?
Ambassador Romero. Again, Mr. Chairman, we don't have
specific information. Certainly, Mr. Dominique spoke out
against specific individuals who have been associated with the
FL, the Famni Lavalas Party, to include the gentleman that you
mentioned, Danny Touissaint.
Chairman Gilman. Mr. Secretary, we have received reports
that the Secretary General is concerned about a rapid
deterioration of the situation and is considering removing the
U.N. personnel out of Haiti. Is the Secretary General using the
Administration's delay in delivering our U.S. contribution to
this mission for him to make a decision to ``cut and run'' from
Haiti?
Ambassador Romero. Certainly, the issue of financing for
the new entity MICAH is a subject of very deep concern to this
Administration. We have been able to gather enough money to
keep it going at a lower rate, with fewer people, than had been
anticipated. We have, certainly, money frozen at this
particular point for the financing of that. I think it would be
a big mistake, particularly since we are headed into some
turbulent times in Haiti, not to finance MICAH at an
appropriate level.
We were looking at a level of about $18 million. As you
know, we provide about 80 percent of the voluntary financing
for it, and we have had the notification up before this body
and the Senate for several weeks now, and we are still waiting
for the green light to go ahead.
Chairman Gilman. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Mr. Delahunt.
Mr. Delahunt. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My own experience in
Haiti leads me to the conclusion that nothing is ever really
clear and that there are many shadows in Haiti. I, for one,
find myself always being restrained when I hear rumors and
speculations because I have great doubt as to their legitimacy.
It appears that there are more than multiple agendas within
Haiti that would disseminate various rumors and present
different theories. There are plots and subplots and plots to
plots that may or may not exist, and I really don't think there
is any advantage in terms of that kind of speculation.
But I guess the fundamental question here is, in terms of
the holding of the elections and the frustration I think that
we all share in terms of those elections being held, and I
think it is implicit in the questions that have been asked, is
the responsibility for the delay predicated on genuine concern
about logistics, infrastructure and resources, or is it lack of
will for whatever reasons and motives? I think that is the crux
really of the question because, as my friend from New York, Mr.
Meeks, asked, what is happening to all that money out there,
the one fact that we do know is that without a government--and
the predicate for a legitimate government is the conduct of
fair and free elections--and without that, the suffering that
the people of Haiti have endured will never, never decline or
diminish. That is why the need to have these elections has to
be paramount because it is the sine qua non, it is the
essential ingredient in attempting to advance an agenda that I
think we all share--I know we all share--in terms of raising
the plight of the people of Haiti from the desperate situation
that they endure.
As I said, I keep an open mind as to the rumors that I
hear; but I think one fact that we know as of right now is that
there is not a date certain for the election, and that as time
continues the only conclusion that we can reach is, whoever is
responsible, that we do not have a democratic state.
There comes a point in time when it is ``in the eye of the
beholder,'' I guess, but we don't have a democracy, and I think
the consequences for the society for the people are so severe
that it is a great tragedy. It is a great tragedy.
What I can't understand is that two months ago when I was
there, there were three million people that were registered.
Now there are four million people that are registered. That is
an incredible success, one of the few bright lights in terms of
what we see coming from Haiti. One could just feel the
enthusiasm and the excitement--and you are absolutely right,
Mr. Ambassador--there was excitement and, yes, there are
incidents of violence. Yet, I daresay, in many other societies
we have seen much more significant violence; but to continue to
not provide a date certain, I have to presume, is creating such
frustration that we lose the intensity of commitment that I
believe that civil society, society as a whole, and, yes, all
political parties, have to this series of elections. I don't
know whether it is political will.
Much has been said about the ex-president and President
Preval. This most recent murder, we don't know whether it is an
assassination. Hell, the murder occurred 24 hours ago. They
don't have the capacity to even conduct a preliminary
investigation. Let us be honest, they don't have those kind of
resources. It is all guesswork. But my understanding is that he
was known as a Special Advisor to Preval--Preval, who has
affiliated himself with the Famni Lavalas--and those who
suggest it is not in the interest of the ex-president to have
these elections. When we were there, Mr. Ambassador, we sat
down with a number of individuals who were respected by our
government, who indicated that the polls established the Famni
Lavalas was substantially ahead if there were to be an
election.
So, I guess I don't know what is happening, but I know
this: if we don't have an election, if we do not have a date
certain, I believe it is clear that the Organization of
American States has a responsibility to declare Haiti a
nondemocracy, whatever those consequences are, because we can't
continue this charade.
Chairman Gilman. The gentleman's time has expired. Did you
want to comment, Mr. Romero?
Ambassador Romero. Congressman, I couldn't agree with you
more. There has to come a time when you have to put the
interest of the Haiti people and their dreams of democracy and
development on the first order of business, and that is what we
are trying to do through the OAS. Hopefully it will have the
salutary effect of opening President Preval's eyes to the fact
that his people yearn for the essential democratic exercise of
elections.
For me, it really is so difficult to accept and believe
that he, as President, doesn't see that as the foremost, most
fundamental positive development in Haiti when in previous
elections we were talking about a voter turnout of about 15
percent, and something that he, concerned with legacy now in
presumably his last year in office, should be more as opposed
to less concerned about. But if you go back and you look at it
from the vantage point of last year, this is a President who
essentially created the CEP in the image that he wanted it to
be, and then proceeded to deny them the kind of executive
support that they needed to get the job done. So, I am not sure
about where President Preval is going. Hopefully with the
events of this hearing, some meetings that we will be having
and the OAS, this will begin to turn him around.
Chairman Gilman. Mr. Secretary, we have been called to the
Floor for a vote and may have to wind up shortly. Before
calling on our last Member who hasn't had an opportunity to
speak, I want to make clear for the record that I do not have
any hold on the money you intend to obligate for the U.N. MICAH
mission in Haiti, nor does Senator Helms' staff, which now
informs me that they do not have any hold on these funds for
the United Nations. So, I want to make the record clear with
regard to that. Mr. Sherman.
Mr. Sherman. Mr. Chairman, before I focus on the purpose of
these hearings, let me compliment you on the improved hearing
room and what appear to be some improved technological devices.
One thing that you may have already implemented but, if not, I
would highly recommend it, is that there is a service that will
put on the WorldWideWeb an audio of everything that goes on at
public hearings in this room. That would allow people concerned
with Haiti, whether they be in San Diego or in Maine, to hear
these hearings even if C-Span chooses not to broadcast them and
even if they can't afford a flight here to Washington and a
chance to sit on one of our very comfortable chairs in the
audience.
Chairman Gilman. Thank you for your suggestion, Mr.
Sherman.
Mr. Sherman. I think the testimony about democracy in Haiti
and the questions from my colleagues have been excellent and
have focused on this very important issue. So I would like to
focus on another related issue, and it is an issue where I
doubt the Ambassador has the answers, so I will ask him to
submit them for the record. The fact that I don't expect him to
have the answers reflects my understanding, and that is when it
comes to burden-sharing, there isn't that much concern in the
State Department. This world has a number of rich countries
around the world, from Vienna to Tokyo by way of Washington.
There are many who live in relative prosperity. In many parts
of the world there are great expenses in providing security and
somewhat less money is being spent on economic aid. But that
whole package represents what rich countries and stable
countries are doing for those in less fortunate circumstances.
I would like the Ambassador to furnish for the record a
comparison of all the money we have spent on Haiti--rather, all
the money that has been spent by the European Union on Haiti in
the last 5 years for economic aid and for any contribution to
military security or physical security of the people there.
Compare that to the amount we have spent in Bosnia and Kosovo,
because we live in a world where if something happens on our
doorstep we are supposed to assume 100-percent of the cost; and
if something happens on the doorstep of an area of the world--
namely, the European Union--that is larger and richer and more
populace than we are, then we are also supposed to assume the
lion's share of the load.
So, I would like to compare what the Europeans have done
for Haiti in terms of dollars, to the total cost not only of
our economic aid but especially of our military efforts in the
former Yugoslavia. Likewise, Japan also lives in an area where
there are needs at its doorstep--namely, the security needs,
rather than the economic development needs, of South Korea. I
would like you to provide a comparison of the total amount
Japan has contributed to meeting the security needs and
economic needs of the people of Haiti to the total----
Chairman Gilman. Mr. Sherman, you have 6 minutes left to
get to the vote, to the Floor to vote, so please be brief.
Mr. Sherman [continuing]. Compared to the total amount we
spend providing security for the people of South Korea and the
people of Japan. If you can furnish that, I think it will
illustrate the fact that when it comes to burden-sharing, it is
100 percent our responsibility when it is here, and mostly our
responsibility when it is there. Thank you. We have a vote.
Ambassador Romero. Thank you. I will make sure that we
provide that. Thank you, Congressman.
Chairman Gilman. Thank you, Mr. Secretary, for taking the
time today, and we regret that a vote is coming up shortly. The
meeting is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 11:47 a.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
=======================================================================
A P P E N D I X
April 5, 2000
=======================================================================
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T6166.001
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T6166.002
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T6166.003
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T6166.004
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T6166.005
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T6166.006
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T6166.007
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T6166.008
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T6166.009
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T6166.010
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T6166.011
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T6166.012
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T6166.013